Description

Preface

With the current mining craze, prices of GPUs are high and availability is low. However, with patience and vigilance, you can find a fairly reasonable price. With this in mind, this guide uses one of the new AMD Raven Ridge APUs, which will allow you to play many games while waiting and searching for a GPU at an acceptable price.

CPU

Our Modest Gaming Build is built around the Ryzen 5 2400G. Using the stock cooler you should be able to achieve moderate overclocks on this unlocked processor.

Motherboard

We've paired the R5 2400G with a parametric list of mATX B350 motherboards that supports up to 64GB of DDR4 memory, multiple SATA6 devices, and front panel USB3.0. Please note that the new Raven Ridge APUs may require a BIOS update on your motherboard to function. If you receive a motherboard with an older BIOS revision AMD has a support page listing your options and will loan you a CPU if the retailer and manufacturer fail to provide you with an updated motherboard.

Memory

For this build and most machines outside of the top end enthusiast realm we opted to go with 8GB of DDR4 memory. The parametric filter finds the best price on 8GB kits of memory that are within AMD’s recommended specifications. We've limited it to DDR4-2800 and DDR4-3000 as Ryzen CPUs scale well with higher frequency memory. At the current time, using memory rated over 3000mhz is not advised without doing extra research as DIMM support can be hit or miss. AMD is working on releasing additional BIOS updates to add better compatibility for higher frequency memory.

Storage

With the rising cost of SSDs and memory we’re making a new recommendation for storage that is a compromise between real-world performance and cost. The parametric filter selects the best priced Hybrid drive with 2TB or more storage capacity. While the hybrid drives are slower on paper than SSDs, their practical performance for gamers will be similar while allowing significantly more storage space per dollar.

GPU

At this price point we suggest using the Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB edition. We specifically filter for the 6GB model as the 3GB not only has lower VRAM but also a lower core count leading to lower fps while gaming. The performance across most games will be similar to the AMD RX 570. We've created a parametric filter to show you the lowest priced, full sized GTX 1060 6GB under 350 dollars which will be powerful enough for most AAA games at 1080p.

Due to the high cost of GPUs and low availability, we are using a parametric filter for a GeForce GTX 1060 with a max price set. With patience and vigilance, you can find a video card for around this price, and we want to provide a part list that is more accurate to this concept.

Case

All of the components are housed in the Fractal Design Focus G Mini MicroATX mid Tower. This case is an affordable option that has a large side panel window, front panel USB3.0, room for full size graphics cards, two LED case fans, and cutouts in the motherboard tray for easy cable routing.

PSU

For our power supply, we're using a parametric selection of well-reviewed fully and semi-modular units, all of which will provide more than enough power for this system.

I realize that, but it's just weird because the MSRP was literally $250 for the 6GB version and $200 for the 3GB version. The MSRP for a GTX 1060 is to close to for comfort the price point where you can get a GTX 1050Ti.

But what you say is true, though. I agree. But those Ethreum miners, ugh.

If your very very very lucky, yes. I've been on auto notify for 2 months. Got an in-stock allert about a month ago, the email was 4 hours old. I immediately checked if there were any left, but no such luck.

The same thing happened to me twice. But it wouldn't have mattered because i noticed the price they sold for was the 2x price as opposed to the price shown on the webpage at the time of setting up my notification. They keep that price low it seems until its available for sale and then jack it up. I wouldn't have paid that much anyway so i just bought a 1050ti. Haven't built the system yet but we'll see how much i can get out of it.

An SSHD is a hard disk with some SSD cache to speed up load times. It's not as fast as an SSD being a couple of seconds slower but still much faster than a regular hard disk. They are great for budget builds though as they are almost as fast as an SSD and has the same low price of large HDDs.

100 bucks can get you a solid SSD. It's still a budget build but everything will move faster. I highly recommend getting a SSD over anything. If you really need more space, you can pick up a super cheap HD anywhere for almost nothing if you spend a little time looking for deals. You really shouldn't need more than 120 GB for basic use/a couple games. Normal HD's are ridiculously cheap. I would never pay 100 bucks for a measly 2 TB HD...my friend picked up a 3TB for 60 the other day...

Not really. You're putting like what, 4-8GB of SSD cache with an HDD? Caches don't work perfectly: Sure, maybe boot up will be pretty quick and launching a few common apps will be pretty quick but open a game? HDD speed. Open an app you don't necessarily always open? HDD speed. Try doing writes to the SSHD? They aren't gonna be so fast, since you're looking at only a few gigs of flash (very little parallelism and usually the flash and controller used aren't that good anyways).

What you're much better off doing is getting a 120gb ssd+HDD. Store OS and commonly apps (as well as maybe a game) on the SSD, and most of your games and stuff on the HDD. You get the fast boot times and app launch times the SSHD gives you, albeit wayyy faster.

It's so you can use the computer (have video output) while looking for a good price on the gpu. 1400 has no integrated video. It's a bit wasteful, but a first time builder who is a student or works from home probably can't wait on gpu availability to have a functioning PC. If you can wait though, the 1600 is a good value for performance.

Well, the point in these builds usually is to get everything at once. If it's made so that you wait for the gpu, it might as well simply not have the gpu listed and the buyer will later get one which they deem fitting. It's no use adding cost of a gpu you might not get as it won't be part of the whole pc budget anymore at that point. Instead it will have it's own budget.

This is a gaming build though, I don't imagine it's for people who have an urgent need for a computer to do their work on. I would rear away from the APU because 1060 deals pop up pretty consistently for around 350 give or take 5-10 bucks.

But since it's meant for gaming, why not just wait till you get an affordable GPU and then get the rest?

I mean, yes, this is all conjecture and theorycrafting, so who the hell cares, but buying all your hardware NOW while waiting, what, 6 months for a GPU? Meanwhile, your hardware will have been deprecated in value for 6 months, and you could probably have picked it all up a bit cheaper when you get your GPU.

The Ryzen 5 2400G actually has a higher clock speed than the Ryzen 5 1500X, and can probably overclock farther due to its improved manufacturing process. That makes up for the price difference even without using the integrated GPU.

I can understand with the high DDR4 RAM prices, you'll need to limit the amount of memory to 8 GB, otherwise you'll be spending up to $200. The question is with this Ryzen 5 2400G CPU, if you have the graphics memory set to 2 GB plus the O/S using 1 GB or more, you'll only be left with a max. of 5 GB's to run games and programs. Is that enough RAM to run smoothly?

If people are willing to wait, a company called B & H Photo in NY has computer parts, like that graphics card. It can be found for that price range but, like you said, you have to stay on top of it and be willing to wait to find those deals anymore.

Horrible company. They have multiple reports on them with discrimination in the workplace, their customer service is god awful, the price gouge often, and when you can get ahold of a representative there is such a high amount of background noises (mostly Indian speak)

yES I think the PSU is way over the top .. something in the range up tp 450 would work easily . Even if you are waiting for a GPU, newer ones tend to be more power efficient, and Nvidia are more efficient than AMd .
Also are you sure that RAM will work at its rated speed ?

The Ryzen 1400 and especially the 1500X have more L3 cache than the 2400G, but that won't matter much for gaming. (It may help with some creative professional tasks, specifically with something like Digitial Audio Workstations.)

Does the vega 11 graphics support h264... That APU could be a really good option for Streamers if the GPU inside has H264 encoding... If you can't figure this out, maybe I will buy one and see what it can do.

How Consistently are people running into the Gigabyte BIOS APU compatibility problems? I really don't want to order all these parts just to flash the motherboard with another AM4 cpu. Would The Asus Strix edition b350 chipset be a more reliable option? I've also read reviews that the Gigabyte Motherboard is really touchy with Overclocking?

The Ryzen 5 2400G already has a GPU capable of light gaming, so if you didn't need integrated geaphics, Why didn't you just use something like the 1500x?

The GTX 1060 3GB is plenty at 1080p... Yes, it has lower VRAM and lower core count but the real world difference between the 6GB model and the 3GB model is 5-10% IF THAT. Basically, if the 6GB was getting 60 FPS, the 3GB would get 57..... Not even noticeable. The only game that uses more than 3GB of vram at 1080p is pubg but Tech Deals reviewed it and showed gameplay and it didn't stutter once...

You shouldn't buy ANY graphics cards right now because of pricing. But if you do, the price difference between the 1060 3GB and 6GB is over $100 for MAYBE 3-5 FPS

My son plays games like Minecraft and Roblox and uses Quicktime to capture the screen coupled with a condenser mic to capture his voice. Ultimately he uploads these videos to youtube.

Will he be able to get away with this build and have optimal performance considering his main use case? Right now he's on a really old mac and it's really choppy and the rig is about to explode pretty much.

This build would even be overkill for roblox or minecraft. A pentium would handle that just fine for even less, or a 2200G. As long as he is not doing both at once. If he streams I would just get a 2200G with no GPU.

Amazon had Gigabyte GT 1030 for about $79 dollars. That would compliment the modest gaming build. Also NewEgg is offering $20 mail in rebate on Ryzen 5 1600. I feel Ryzen 5 1600 is better than 2400G if you are getting your own graphics card.

A tip, watch out for mail in rebates on PSUs. I got EVGA 750 Gold certified for about $89. It is always better to spend a little bit extra for PSUs as you have more options to upgrade when the graphics card prices drop (most likely to be in 2019)

I'm looking to build a budget computer around this price and based off this build but I'm new to this kind of stuff and wasn't sure on some things.

1) I was wondering if the CPU's integrated graphics would run games like fortnite, league of legends, world of warcraft smoothly (good fps) at the lowest settings whilst I look for a decent priced graphics card.

2) I note the compatibility issue with the CPU and motherboard, I was wondering if there would be an alternative motherboard (don't mind paying extra) that suits the build but eliminates the problem as I'll be ordering to Australia so if shipped from overseas I don’t really want to wait for a replacement CPU to use my PC. Also, I’ll be looking to upgrade in the future so was wondering if there is a better motherboard that allows more upgrades down the track whilst eliminating the CPU issue.

3) Could I add an optical drive to this build or use a different case that fits the build and offers a drive slot and more room to make my first build a bit easier.

Any advice would be appreciated and as I said I'm trying to stick to my budget but I would probably be willing to go another $200aud. over the budget if it will make life much easy for now and the future.

If you're willing to wait for a video card, might as well wait for everything. Don't get an APU if you're planning on getting a video card. It's a little bit of a waste. The CPU isn't bad per se, but you might as well get a 1500X or even a 1400 if budget is really tight.

Do NOT get a WD Blue drive that's over 1TB, they're 5400 RPM and if you're going to be using them for anything other than archival purposes, you're going to have a bad time. You're better off investing your money into an M.2 slot and using up the 4 SATA connections for your HDDs.
As it's touted as a gaming build, you don't need 4TB, get yourself 1 TB or 2TB (but NOT from the Blue series).

The 1060 6GB is an excellent choice, but you might consider an RX 580 (or even the 480) for FreeSync.

If the point of the case is its small size, then yeah, great choice, but I'd consider getting a bigger case for less money and more spacious interior.

Finally, the PSU is hell of an overkill for this system, you'll be perfectly fine with a 450W PSU, the Gold is nice, but you have to consider that your "savings" on electricity would be so minimal that it doesn't really matter, the lower upfront cost is, in my opinion, a much better option than to save 25€ a year (and that's if you're running your PC at full load 24/7).

No. The 2400g isn't like the APUs of yore. You aren't losing almost any CPU performance compared to a 1400x or 1500. With GPU prices as insane as they are, the 2400g has compelling price to performance. Ryzen doesn't even have video built in to the normal CPUs, so OP would have to go out and pick up a GT 1030 or something like that. Completely pointless.

These are 7200rpm drives, as stated by gush37 already.

The RX 580 gets consistently much higher hash rates than gtx 1060s, so miners snap them up and they start at $500. Not a good suggestion in the current price climate.

This is an excellent case and is great to work in. With SLI and Crossfire getting next to no support, there's not much reason for budget gamers to go with ATX boards anymore.

A good PSU now saves you the headache of getting one later. Better to fork over for a 600w and never have to worry about your GPU / CPU overclocks than have to resell a 450w and get a new unit.

2400G has incredible value, but as I'm typing this, Ryzen 5 1600 price has dropped to 163€ here, and the 2400G goes for 159€. I'm well aware of it's relative good performance as an APU, but for first-time buyers it's just better to wait than to buy something that isn't as powerful as it's similarly priced alternatives.

I replied to him, and AFAIK there are no 1TB+ WD Blue drives.

I'm not suggesting anyone would overpay for anything, I'm quite against it.. I'm saying the RX 580 is a good choice in its reasonable price (I got mine about 2-3 months ago for 270€), regardless of price, the 1060 6GB is a solid card (better than the RX 580) and costs less (as of now). But, again, this build is for "later", a time when prices are reasonable, so what's the point of saying that the RX 580 is too expensive right now?

Well, I take your word for it that it's a good case, but for me it's a bit too expensive, and you could still use an mATX board in a larger case, you'll just have more room - but the main point is the price.

If it's about how good the PSU is, then why is it a parametric filter? It's based on the specs, not on a review of it. Well, don't worry, 450 watts is more than you'll ever need with a 2400G and a GTX 1060. Even with OC. It's also not just about wattage, as it's not what drives the price up, it's the fact that it's Gold certified. It's nice to have, but for a "MODEST GAMING" build, you don't need one. The difference is 5% of efficiency. You're not losing anything, well - you do.. money, but your gains are insignificant as a "modest gamer".

If anything you can find some nice New EVGA 650w GQ's all Modular on eBay for around $60-70. and also Vclutch most PSU's in builds are more than the case anyways.... its a part to use the PC, the Case isn't required to use the PC, so your point of the opinion your making is pretty unintelligible.